Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia: light and electron microscopy of the bone marrow.

Clinical data and light and electron microscopic findings are presented in a patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia of about 5 years' duration and no need for specific therapy. Cytogenetic studies failed to demonstrate a Philadelphia-chromosome. The leading clinical symptoms were anemia, moderate hepatomegaly, and leukocytosis with monocytes in the peripheral blood count. Light microscopy of bone marrow cores showed hypercellularity of neutrophil granulocytic and monocytic cell lines including some precursor forms. Electron microscopy confirmed the existence of a biphasic myelomonocytic cell proliferation with predominance of mature forms in both lineages; there were no gross cellular abnormalities and no “hiatus leukaemicus”. Conspicuous were cells of an undeterminated origin apparently neither belonging to the neutrophil granulocytic nor monocytic series and large histiocytic cells, possibly corresponding to the so-called sea-blue histiocytes of light microscopy. The high degree of maturation of both cell lines in the bone marrow is in accordance with the relatively benign and prolongated course of this rare type of leukemia.